Chapter Fifteen
Jade
I never thought a storage room could feel like freedom.
Mia had transformed the small space at Haven into a makeshift photo studio and workspace.
White sheets tacked to one wall and lamps positioned strategically around the room created a soft yet stark space to capture the essence of light and dark.
Sunlight streamed through the high windows, catching dust motes that danced above cardboard boxes of old supplies pushed against the far wall.
The air smelled of paper and ink and possibility.
We had spent the morning sorting through dozens of photographs spread across a folding table in the center of the room.
We arranged and rearranged the black and white images that told the story of my time at Haven and the journey I’d begun.
“I had no idea you were taking pictures of me back then,” I said, picking up a photo from my first week at Haven.
The woman in the image barely resembled me now.
Her shoulders were hunched protectively, eyes downcast, arms wrapped around herself as if trying to disappear. My stomach tightened looking at her.
“I started documenting women’s journeys when I first came to volunteer,” Mia explained, adjusting one of the lights.
“It’s part of my own healing process. I usually have clear permission, but…
Well, I hadn’t planned on keeping the pictures.
I just needed to see you through something other than the situation I thought I knew.
” Her voice softened. “I thought you hated me. That maybe you blamed me for what happened to you with Eric.”
“I never hated you,” I said quietly. “I was ashamed.”
“I guess we both need to see things through a different lens, huh?” She handed me another photo from two months later. I stood at the kitchen counter in Haven, my posture still guarded but my gaze level with the camera.
“This was last month,” Mia said, passing me the most recent shot.
I stood outside Haven in the courtyard, face tilted toward the sun, shoulders back.
The woman in that photo looked entirely different from the first. She looked strong.
She looked like me. I noticed in the background Rip leaning against a nearby tree watching me with a small, satisfied smile on his face.
Like he was the happiest man in the world.
“When did you take this?” I asked.
“The day after the coffee shop. When you stood up to Eric.” Mia arranged several photos of me and some of the other women at Haven in chronological order from my arrival. “These aren’t just pictures, you know. They’re your middle finger to Eric’s control.”
I looked at the progression laid out before me. From broken to healing to standing tall. Not completely whole yet but getting there. “What do we do with them?”
“We post them,” Mia said firmly. “With your words. Your truth.” She gestured to her laptop open on a stool nearby. “Reclaim your narrative. Tell your story in a raw, unfiltered way and make no apologies for it.”
My throat tightened. “I wouldn’t know what to say.”
“Say whatever you need to say. There isn’t a wrong way to do this as long as it comes from the heart.” Mia squeezed my arm gently. “You survived him, Jade. Other women need to hear that. And Eric needs to see he can’t silence you.”
I sat down at the laptop, fingers hovering over the keys. The blinking cursor waited for words I wasn’t sure I had. What could I possibly say that would matter? That would make a difference?
I began typing slowly, then faster as the words found their own rhythm.
My fingers trembled as words tumbled out.
I wrote about the isolation. The shame. The way I believed I deserved everything Eric dished out.
I wrote about the night I finally ran and the women who took me in at Haven.
I wrote about facing Eric at the courthouse and again at the coffee shop.
He could threaten me all he wanted, but Eric couldn’t silence me. Not anymore.
I spent two hours reading and rereading what I’d written, making small adjustments until tears streamed down my face as I finished.
I had no idea if my story would actually make a difference, but the weight I’d been carrying for so long finally slid from my shoulders. I felt like I could breathe again.
“Ready?” Mia asked when I finished.
I took a deep breath and clicked Post. The second I did, relief and a rush of happiness filled me. The smile I knew spread across my face was genuine.
We didn’t have to wait long. Within minutes, my phone began vibrating against the table with notifications. Comments appeared under the post faster than I could read them.
“You are so brave.”
“Thank you for sharing your story.”
“I believe you.”
I scrolled through them, my vision blurring with tears. Then private messages started arriving. The first one made me gasp.
“I dated Eric three years ago. He did the same things to me. I thought I was the only one.”
Another message popped up.
“He threatened to ruin my career when I tried to leave him. I still have the texts.”
Messages. Replies. Over the next hour, there were so many I had trouble keeping up with them.
I looked up at Mia. “How many women did he hurt?”
“Too many,” Mia said grimly. “But they’re finding their voices now too. Because of you.”
“I never thought anyone would listen,” I whispered. “Or care.”
“That’s what abusers count on,” Mia said. “Isolation makes you believe you’re alone.”
“I’m not his victim anymore,” I said, my voice steady and clear.
Mia smiled. “No. You’re not. Maybe we can both heal together?”
I pulled Mia to me and hugged her. “I’d love that.”
* * *
Rip
I watched Knight’s face harden as he pulled up the security footage on the main monitor.
The blue light from the screen cast shadows across his tattooed features, making him look even more menacing than usual.
Knight rarely showed emotion beyond mild amusement or casual indifference.
Seeing raw anger crack his usual composure told me whatever he’d found was serious.
He clicked through several files before enlarging one timestamp from three days ago.
The grainy night vision footage showed a figure moving along the outer fence line of Haven.
There was no way to tell exactly who walked our fence, but I’d bet my left nut it had something to do with Eric.
Knight tapped keys on his keyboard and another video appeared.
“This one was the night before last. Different time. Different section of fence.” The timestamp showed 3:47 a.m. “Hard to tell, obviously, but it’s not a stretch to think it’s the same person.
Might be Eric. Might be someone trying to get to one of the other women in Haven.
And this morning at 4:30.” He pulled up a third clip.
I crossed my arms, my jaw clenching as I watched the male figure methodically testing Haven’s perimeter. He didn’t touch the fence, but I had no doubt he looked for weaknesses or, possibly, a place remote enough he could cut his way through.
The figure turned and looked up, but not directly at the camera, finally pushing his fingers through the chain-link fence to grip it. When he did, the security camera caught his face.
“Gotcha, you motherfucker.” Knight pressed a few buttons on his keyboard before isolating the frame and zooming in on the man’s face. Definitely Eric.
“Surprised he’s doin’ his own dirty work.” I rubbed my hand through my short beard in agitation.
Again, he looked all around him. This time, another camera angle clearly caught his visage. The smirk made me want to dig his eyeballs out with a spork. Eric pulled wire cutters from his jacket pocket.
“Look at this shit.” Knight’s voice raised in a combination of outrage and dark humor. “He cut a fuckin’ test hole. Just big enough to see if we’d notice.”
The footage showed Eric making a small, careful cut in the chain link before stepping back to examine his work.
He looked at his watch, then back in the direction of Haven with an expression that made my blood boil.
Smug. Satisfied. Like his action proved he could get to Jade -- or Mia -- whenever he wanted.
“Son of a bitch is taunting us,” I said. “Call Oktober. There’s a chance he’s coming after Mia, too. I don’t want anyone hurt, but especially not our women. At least one of them is a target.”
“You realize you and Oktober could just as easily be targets too, right?”
I gave Knight an impatient look. “I could give two fucks if me and Oktober are targets. We can take care of ourselves until help arrives. The women…”
Knight nodded in agreement, pulling out his phone to shoot a text off. “We need to end this shit now. Tonight.” He set his phone down. “We wait for him to make another move, we grab him, we make sure he never walks right again.”
“Assuming you texted Knuckles?”
“He did.” The man in question filled the doorway with his big body and presence. “He shows up tonight, we’ll take care of him.”
The old me would have already been planning exactly how to make Eric suffer. The me from before prison. Before Jade. But seeing her grow stronger each day had changed something in me.
Finally, I sighed, giving up this battle before it started. “We need to give Jade some choices in this,” I said, surprising myself almost as much as Knight. His head snapped up, black sclera making his blue eyes look even more intense as he stared at me. “Maybe Mia too. I’ll talk to Oktober.”
“The fuck did you just say?” Knight leaned back in his chair. “This piece of shit is stalking the perimeter. Testing our security. He posted those videos of her. And now he’s looking for a way in. What exactly are we waiting for?”
“She’s finally getting her power back.” I nodded toward the screen. “She just posted her story publicly today. Called him out by name. Women are coming forward, backing her up. She’s fighting back her way.”